HIST 222 wk 4 forum

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History

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Apr 3, 2024

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docx

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Uploaded by djelliott1957

Historians recognize the importance of model figures. In the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s which African Americans were model figures to African Americans? How did they influence white Americans to see African Americans differently?   During the 1930s an African American that was a model figure to African Americans was Walter White. White, a blond-haired, blue-eyed lawyer of mixed race became the secretary of the NAACP in 1931. During the 1930s White established a branch of the NAACP in his hometown of Atlanta. This made a difference for many African Americans in the South struggling from the New Deal. Using his appearance as an advantage, White was able to go undercover in the South to investigate lynching and obtain information to aid the NAACP’s legal campaign against the practice ( Black protest during the Great Depression . ). Additionally, White persuaded the NAACP to oppose the   Atlanta Board of Education’s decision to eliminate seventh grade for African American students as part of an effort to finance a new high school for white students (Whitaker, 2023). During the 1940s an African American that was a model figure to African Americans was young writer James Baldwin. He influenced white Americans to see African Americans differently by protesting literature by Harriet Beecher Stowes   Uncle Tom’s Cabin   and Richard Wright’s   Native Son   claiming these novels portrayed humanity unfairly instead of reflecting the full beauty, creed, and power ( Music, Art, and Black Culture after Harlem ).   Additionally, Baldwin’s   works helped to raise public awareness of racial and sexual oppressio n (James Baldwin, n.d.). During the 1950s an African American that was a model figure to African Americans was novelist Ralph Ellison. In 1952 Ellison influenced white Americans to see African Americans differently with the publication of his novel   Invisible Man   ( Music, Art, and Black Culture after Harlem ).   The novel changed the face of black literature of the twentieth century ( Music, Art, and Black Culture after Harlem ). David References Black protest during the Great Depression . (n.d.). APUS.  https://myclassroom.apus.edu/d2l/le/enhancedSequenceViewer/130211? James Baldwin . (n.d.). National Museum of African American History and Culture.   https://nmaahc.si.edu/james-baldwin Music, Art, and Black Culture after Harlem . (n.d.). APUS.   https://myclassroom.apus.edu/d2l/le/enhancedSequenceViewer/130211?
Whitaker,   M.   C. (2023, January 21).   Walter F. White (1893-1955) . Welcome to Blackpast https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/white-walter-f-1893-1955/
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